Brantley Parsley - Romans 12:1

Introduction

The day after Mr. Brantley died, Ms. Bettye told me that she had been feeding her spirit that morning with a devotional thought from Chuck Swindoll. The devotion was (I think) on Romans 12:1-2…

Romans 12:1–2 NASB95

1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Charles Swindoll wrote,

“In his letter to the believers in Rome, Paul drops to his knees, as it were, and pleads with these believers to present themselves to God as living sacrifices. He then offers a warning: stop allowing the world to be your standard for the way you live and think!

“Stop being squeezed into that mold! Quit aping the system of thought that surrounds you! Reject its line of reasoning, its method of operation, its style and techniques! How? By pursuing a radical transformation from within. By allowing the Spirit of God to transform your thought pattern. And what will happen if you do? You will demonstrate authentic godlikeness.

“Living differently begins with thinking differently. A life that is characterized by serving others begins in a mind that has become convinced of the truth of God’s Word.

“Do you long to live the Christian life as God intends? Start surrendering to His Word today. Believe His Word and let Christ take the lead. I dare you to do so!”

Brantley Parsley was a man who took that dare.

As Ms. Bettye said in regard to Romans 12:1, “Doesn’t that just describe him to a T?”

I think it does, so to give thanks to God, to celebrate Brantley’s life, and to hopefully bring comfort to us all, I’d like us to spend a few moments thinking about Romans 12:1.

Major Ideas

Romans 12:1 begins with the life-saving foundation.

Romans 12:1 NASB95

1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

[EXP] Paul’s letter to the Romans has been called the greatest letter ever written. Like most of his letters, it can be divided into two parts—the theological and the practical or the ‘what we should believe about God’ and the ‘how we should live for God’ parts.

Romans 12:1 is the very first verse in the ‘how we should live for God’ part of Romans, but everything Paul writes in Romans 12-16 is based on Romans 1-11—and Romans 1-11 is all about the Good News of God’s grace in Jesus Christ.

It’s the life-saving foundation that we must have if we are going to live like Romans 12:1 calls us to live.

It’s the life-saving foundation that made Brantley live the way he lived.

Paul says a lot in Romans 1-11, but the fundamental message he communicates can be summarized with a few verses commonly referred to as the Roman Road:

Romans 3:23 NASB95

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

It may be hard for us to believe, but even someone as kind and encouraging as Brantley Parsley is a sinner who has fallen short of God’s glory, i.e., God’s righteous standard.

We are all rebels against God doing the opposite of what He commands.

There are no exceptions to this. I’m a sinner, you’re a sinner, Brantley was a sinner. We are ALL sinners.

That bad news, but the good news comes in Romans 6:23…

Romans 6:23 NASB95

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

“The wages of sin is death” — that’s bad news gone worse because that means that sinners like us are going to die eternally under the just wrath of God.

But, as I said, the good news comes in the second part of Romans 6:23, “but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

God is holy and His holiness demands that all sin—everything thought, said, or spoken in contradiction to his perfect will—it all must be punished.

And all the punishment was laid upon Jesus in our place.

Romans 5:8 says…

Romans 5:8 NASB95

8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Jesus paid the price for sin on the cross. Because He had no sin of His own He qualified as the perfect, once-for-all sacrifice for our sin.

And after paying the price for our sins, God raised Jesus from the dead…

Romans 10:9 says…

Romans 10:9 NASB95

9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;

The salvation God offers to us sinners is only offered in Jesus Christ.

It’s this salvation, this Good News, this Gospel that is the life-saving foundation we must have if we are going to live like Romans 12:1 says we should.

It’s these “mercies of God” that energized the likes of the Apostle Paul and energized the like of Brantley Parsley.

[ILLUS] I know that you remember the commercial with the Energizer Bunny that just keeps going and going and going and going.

Brantley was often called the Energizer Bunny because he just kept going and going and going.

Brantley had physical energy.

I remember stories about him mowing his yard in the heat of Summer when he was in his 90s.

One of our church members went to help him work on something one day and reported later that Brantley could still keep going and going and going.

Even in the last couple days of his life when he was lying in the bed, he wanted to get up and go.

When I saw him the day before he died, he asked me, “Can I get up?”

Brantley had physical energy…

… but Brantley had even more spiritual energy—a spiritual energy that came from the life-saving foundation of God’s mercies in Jesus Christ.

Once, I was talking to Brantley about how he had come to Christ and about his ministry life since coming to Christ.

He told me about coming to Christ in Baltimore, Maryland, and beginning to serve the Lord there.

He then later served the Lord in Washington state and continued to serve the Lord wherever the Lord had him including here in Mobile.

In the extended version of his obituary, it says…

“His activities included; Volunteer Chaplain, Alabama Hospice, Habitat for Humanity, Help Line Crisis Telephone Service, Sonshine Builders, Senior Bowlers at Florida Lanes, Sunday School Teacher at Springhill Baptist Church; RSVP., Blood Donor, Widowed Persons Service, Brotherhood Emmanuel Baptist Church.”

Brantley was a busy man because he was an energized man—and the source of his energy was the life-saving Gospel of Jesus Christ.

[TS] But let’s continue with Romans 12:1…

Romans 12:1 continues with a life-sacrificing presentation.

Romans 12:1 NASB95

1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

[ILLUS] When Brantley knew that his time might be short, he had me come over to the house to look through his books and take whatever I thought I might be able to use. I ended up with several books and a few study Bibles from his library.

When I’d pick up a study Bible and ask him about it, he’d say, “Yeah, I think it’s pretty good, but I haven’t had a chance to work through it very much yet.”

But as I thumb through its pages, I would see page after page with markings from his highlighter.

This was Brantley’s idea of ‘not having a chance to work through it very much’.

[EXP] In one particular study Bible, Brantley had the phrase ‘living sacrifice’ from Romans 12:1 highlighted and he also had the corresponding note highlighted. Highlighted in pink, it reads…

“When sacrificing an animal according to God’s law, a priest killed the animal, cut it in pieces, and placed it on the altar. Sacrifice was important, but even in the Old Testament God made it clear that obedience from the heart was much more important. God wants us to offer ourselves, not animals, as living sacrifices—daily laying aside our own desires to follow Him. We do this out of gratitude that our sins have been forgiven.”

As that note from Brantley’s study Bible suggest, the phrase ‘living sacrifice’ in Romans 12:1 is almost a contradiction in terms.

The living live.

Sacrifices die.

So, how can one be a ‘living sacrifice’?

Well, as the note said, “(By) daily laying aside our own desires to follow (Jesus).”

This is what Jesus called all who follow Him to do in Luke 9:23…

Luke 9:23 NASB95

23 And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.

The way of Jesus is the way of the living sacrifice.

It’s the way of daily dying to self and following Him.

It’s a way that Brantley knew well.

[ILLUS] Let me ask you a question: If you were given only a year or two to live, what would you do?

Now, let me ask you a very different question: If you were given only a year or two to live, how would you serve?

I told you that Brantley gave me some of his books when he found out that his time was short. What I didn’t tell you though was that he didn’t let me take any books on, I believe it was, Jeremiah.

He didn’t let me have those commentaries on Jeremiah because in his remaining time he planned to teach Jeremiah to his Sunday School at Springhill Baptist Church for as long as he could.

Many of us, if only given a year or two to live, would spend that year or two on ourselves—daily living out our own desires.

But Brantley laid aside his own desires to follow Jesus.

That’s what he had done in his Christian life.

That’s what he did as his physical life drew to a close.

That’s the kind of living that God accepts—the kind of living that He is pleased with—the kind of living that hears “Well done good and faithful servant” from Jesus as you step into eternity.

[TS] Notice how Romans 12:1 ends…

Romans 12:1 ends with a life-changing realization.

Romans 12:1 NASB95

1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

[EXP] To be saved by God’s grace in Jesus Christ and then to live as a living sacrifice as you follow Jesus—this is the Christian’s spiritual service of worship.

One translation says, “(This) is (the Christian’s) reasonable service.”

I imagine that if Brantley were here and we could ask him, “Brantley, what made you live the life of sacrificial service that you lived?” He’s answer would be something pretty close to, “It’s only reasonable in light of all that Jesus has done for me.”

Or as another study Bible of Brantley’s put it, “When you think of what He had one for you, is this too much to ask?”

For Brantley, to live as a living sacrifice was reasonable because of what Jesus had done for him.

For Brantley, because of what Jesus had done for him, it was not too much to ask to daily die to self and follow Jesus.

For Brantley, this was his spiritual service of worship.

It ought to be ours as well.

[TS]

Conclusion

Jesus blessed Brantley with many great blessings throughout his life.

Jesus carried Brantley through many hard times throughout his life.

On Tuesday night, Jesus carried Brantley through death into the blessing of eternal life with Him.

1 Corinthians 15:55–57 NASB95

55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; 57 but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

[SONG - Victory in Jesus]